Porch Design Ideas

Porch design ideas, review backyard magazines and landscaping websites to look at many screen porch designs. This way, you can utilize important details that fit your project. The size and shape do matter, but there are multiple ways to construct a screened porch to yield relaxation space and living areas. A well-designed porch can become somewhat of an extension of your kitchen or family room, for example. Don't overlook creating a screened sleeping porch as well.

Design Porch Placement

Define how much yard space you will allocate. If the screened porch will be attached directly to the house overhangs, design the porch around house windows and door openings. Allow a space of 15 x 20 feet, for example, but move the porch to a blank wall where a sliding door or French door will be installed. Don’t plan to cover a main kitchen or bathroom window, or this might devalue the home’s market value.

Plan Connection to House Framing

Create the porch roof line as the starting point of its actual design. Once you’ve figured out how large to make the screened porch, draw the structure in detail. Create the roof lines to fit well with existing house roof lines. Sketch a hip roof, sloping roof, A-frame or flat roof. Plan to attach the porch roof securely to house roof rafters, if possible, to prevent movement of the screened porch during windstorms.

Choose Construction Materials

Select materials that harmonize with your home’s exterior. Use high-end materials, such as cedar or redwood if your home is in an upscale neighborhood. Pressure-treated pine or plywood may be utilized for a rustic home or a home in a modest neighborhood. Look at other screened porch structures in your neighborhood to see what other homeowners are using. Determine if you will use metal, shingles or cedar shakes on the roof.

Use Creative Touches

Combine screen material with other coverings. Plan to cover the screened porch with screening on the top half and house exterior siding on the bottom half, for example. You can use a few sections of stacked stone or brick veneer on the bottom half of the structure if the porch is built over a concrete base. Use wood framing and screening material only if the porch has a wooden base of decking material. If the house is near a beach, you can incorporate some fabric into the wall designs, along with the screening material.

Finalize Building Details

Finish up planning of details before starting construction. For example, figure out if you do want to install sliding doors in your kitchen that open to the screened porch. Plan all aspects of electricity and lighting that you wish to install as well. Built-in benches, storage or shelving inside the screened porch is often a good idea too.